Legal, DRM free MP3s arrive in the UK

Play.com, the Jersey-based entertainment retailer, has beaten both Apple and Amazon to launch by opening the UK’s first legal digital rights management-free music download store with major label backing from EMI. Amazon has yet to replicate its US digital store on this side of the Atlantic, and a spokesman for the firm refused to say if it ever intends to do so. Apple iTunes Plus in the UK offers DRM-free tracks, but only in the company’s own AAC format.

Play.com’s digital store. PlayDigital, currently sells EMI’s music at 320Kbit/s DRM free MP3s. It is hoped that the other major record companies will soon follow. Play’s new store is also priced aggressively. Top-selling tracks will cost 65p, compared to 79p at iTunes. Amazon charges 99 cents per track in the US, although transatlantic currency conversion rates rarely bear any relation to the value of the dollar against the pound. Play.com said the average price per track will be 70 pence. Album bundles are charged at £6.99.

Jas Dhaliwal is a highly experienced International Social Media Strategist. He specializes in building and engaging with social communities across the web. Born and bred in London, he is passionate about technology and social anthropology. You can follow @Jas on Twitter